I. In some American circles there’s a hubbub about Rod Dreher’s Benedict Option, and some Australians are interested. Stephen McAlpine, a pastor in Perth, seems to see the Benedict Option as the standout example of faithful communitarian vision, or maybe as an umbrella term for such. To my mind, the […]
‘Keeping it Light’ puts two people together who would normally disagree. And shows how the Bible can help us all listen to each other. As part of its 200 year anniversary, Bible Society Australia ran the first of ‘a short series of videos showing that it is possible to have […]
A friend of ours once likened South Sudan to Tanzania. He had visited South Sudan for a construction project, and looming large in his experience was the constant presence of armed men. As he spoke, he seemed to be describing a potential failed state, a hive of barely contained conflict, […]
On arriving in Tanzania in 2013, we were greeted with a new communications reality: mobile internet. Tanzania had started out with mobile internet rather than waiting for wired infrastructure. Unlike Australia, mobile data bundles quickly became cheap and plentiful. By the time of our first home assignment, advanced smartphones were […]
No, 2015 is not a typo, it’s just that things got seriously out of whack during our 12 months of transition. Here are five more stories that have especially stayed with me. (See the previous list here…) The Natural Way of Things (Charlotte Wood, 2015) This Stella Prize winner first […]
I like the way Christianity lingers in the December experience of every Australian. I’d be really sad to see it go. But I do know that it is only on the periphery for many people… It would be so much more satisfying if the deeper meaning of Christmas could surface […]
Even though I’ve got the name of the great defender of Britain, I’m not English, or British. I once heard that I have some Scottish ancestry. My parents used to play Enya and ‘A Celtic Heartbeat Christmas’, so does that make me Irish? Anyway, I’m still drawn to the songs […]
